Uumm.. didn't the economy also bomb at the end of the Clinton years. From the Dot-com bubble bursting? I believe the President got caught manipulating/lying about the economic numbers to hide that fact. I also remember then new President Bush being blamed for 'destroying' the 10 year budget 'surplus'* even before he was a full year in office.

* That surplus always made me laugh when it was a projected income out over 10 years at the Clinton adimistration's 'official' income stream. No budget income is ever steady from one year to the next.

Prove it, I am sorry but this is what gets me. Outright accusations without no proof to show. Proof from more then one reliable independent neutral source.

Government taking control of key industries is a temporary thing; a lot of the institutions which were government owned (such as GM) have since returned to being completely private again. Those steps are temporary; unless you can point to concrete ways in which things have permanently changed

Jude, you are not correct on this. Gm re-payed the loans given it but we as a country still own 60.8 % of GM

**With GM in deep trouble and hundreds of thousands of jobs in the balance, the Obama administration -- through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) -- stepped forward with tens of billions of dollars worth of assistance. As of March 31, 2010, the U.S. Treasury had committed approximately $52.4 billion to GM.

Only a fraction of that, $6.7 billion, was in the form of loans. Most of the government's GM investment was converted to an ownership stake in the New GM, the company that emerged from bankruptcy: $2.1 billion in preferred stock; and 60.8 percent of the company's common equity.**

**So the loan portion of the GM bailout was, in fact, settled, with interest, five years ahead of schedule.

But the U.S. government is still on the hook for the bulk of its investment in GM. Again, the U.S. Treasury owns $2.1 billion in preferred stock and a 60.8 percent stake in the company. GM plans an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as this summer, and the government plans to sell off its interest in the company over time. The better the company does, the more the government looks to recoup. But the prospects for the government getting all its money back don't look promising.

On March 18, 2010, the government's nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected the government will end up losing $34 billion in TARP funds extended to the automotive industry. The CBO didn't break out how much of that is tied to GM, but it's fair to say most of it.**

There is even questions about how GM payed the loan back, since it seems they used a Government sponsored account to draw the money from to pay off the government loan!

Also a true conservative wants smaller government and that it follows the constitution. But sadly you are right in that the two main parties are so concerned about their own views there is no longer any compromise. Everywhere I look there seems to be a 'my way is right and theirs is wrong' attitude. Too the point I have heard some very right wing reporters call democrates brain damaged and mentally sick and the same from the other side.There seems to be a desperation in both parties and they cant or wont try and work for a bipartisan view on things.

General Motors Co. on Wednesday filed plans to launch an initial public offering, which sources expect could raise $10 billion or more, as the U.S. auto maker prepares to return to the public market after an absence of more than 14 months.

Looks like you were right about them not being there yet, but they will be very shortly. Considering they were only private for 14 months, I'd say a vast amount of the socialist criticism was completely and utterly baseless. Nothing's gonna remain private, but Obama will never get that portion of reputation he lost back over this whole issue despite the fact that it turned out good. GM is a success story that will be completely ignored.